November

We have a beach, Bonfil, on the other side of the airport from the city of Acapulco. Gigantic (and fairly dangerous) waves are common, and that's where the local surfers go - I don't think the tourists have any idea where it is, and it isn't that easy to get there, except by fairly expensive taxi (be sure to bargin before you get in).

Anyway, there's a surfing competition on November 11-13 (Saturday through Monday) supervised by the Asociación de Surfing del Estado de Guerrero and the Liga Municipal de Surfing, and sponsored by Squalo.

The Acapulco World Sound Festival is scheduled for November 2-5, out at Tres Vidas Beach, east of town and beyond the airport. I don't have the names of performers yet.

The French Film Festival will take place at the Acapulco Convention Center November 7-12. Twelve features and six shorts from France will be shown.

October

The second annual extreme sports competition will take place in the State of Oaxaca from 12 to 14 October, near the Pacific port of Huatulco.

Team participants must be at least 18 years old by the date of the competition and must have participated in at least two national or internationally, recognized, adventure competitions. They must also have experience in rope handling, rappeling, mountain climbing, mountain biking, river running, ocean kayaking, and first aid.

Registration, which closed in May 2000, costs $1,000US; first prize is $15,000US. For more information, visit their English language website.

Beginning August

August events at the Convention and Visitors' Bureau:

August 16 - 19: "ExpoHort" Horticultural Exhibits (800 attendees)

August 25: Dinner dance for "Seguros Monterrey"

August 24 to 28: Special exhibit: "Everything for Everybody"

Not much else going on during the rainy season, but now is the time when a lot of cruise lines move their fleets from the Alaska run (where they spend the summer) to the Caribbean (where they spend the winter). So it's time to hop aboard and see the Panama canal.

August 5 & 6: Women's Beach Volleyball Tournament

September 21: Liner "Mercury" arrives

September 25: Liner "Ocean Princess " arrives

October 1 - 8: Acapulco Beach Football (Soccer) Tournament

October 4: Liner "Westerdam" arrives

October 5: Liner "Norwegian Sky" arrives

October 8: Liner "Dawn Princess" arrives

October 10: Liner "Sea Princess" arrives

October 10: Liner "Galaxy" arrives

October 11: Liner "Mercury" arrives

October 13: Liner "Volendam" arrives

October (TBA): International Speakers Congress

Beginning July

M�xico City

An exhibit of the Metropolitan Cathedral collection of art dating from the colonial period (1520 - 1820) called "Par�bola Novohispana", runs from July to November 2000 and is open daily from 10am to 7pm, and there is no charge.

The show is in the Iturbide Palace just west of the Z�calo, and this building in itself is well worth seeing. Shortly after Independence (1821) August�n de Iturbide was named President of the Provisional government, then named himself the first Mexican emperor. He was overthrown and forced into exile, but returned and was executed. This lavish baroque palace, now a branch of the Bank of M�xico, is his legacy.

Acapulco

Fort San Diego - Spain's first Pacific fort, and the only one in the Americas, is being renovated as the focus of an Arts Center. Old Fort San Diego was built in 1535 to protect the only North American port of the Manila Galleons which carried Spain's oriental trade to M�xico and then to Europe. It was heavily damaged in an earthquake in 1776, and the present building, technically the "new" Fort San Diego, dates from then. Worth a visit.

Don't miss the cistern beneath the central plaza - legend has it that it communicates with the "Cave of the Devil" at La Quebrada (but I doubt that).

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